Premise: A prince must save his kingdom, his family, and restore his honor.
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal * Gemma Arterton * Ben Kingsley * Alfred Molina * Steve Toussaint
Story: An orphan is taken off the streets to live with the King after he impresses the ruler with his skill and willingness to help another poor orphan. Years later, that same adopted prince (Gyllenhaal) accompanies his brothers on a mission against their enemy, but they are diverted to attack a neighboring city previously thought to be neutral. The prince is blamed for an assassination of the King and escapes with the ruler of the attacked city (Arterton). The prince discovers he has been deceived and sets out to right the wrongs done to him, his family, and both kingdoms.
Review: It's a forgettable action film in the vein of the Mummy movies by Stephen Sommers. A nice escapist film that won't engage too many brain cells.
Plot: The plot is simple and predictable. The adopted prince (who wowed the King with his parkour abilities) acts against his conscience and supports his brothers in an ill-advised attack on a neutral city. During the celebration, the king is murdered, the brothers assume it's Dastan (Gyllenhaal, although I kept thinking Dustan, as in "Dustan in the Wind") and order his arrest and execution. Dastan escapes, taking Princess Tamina (Arterton) with him for the predictable love-hate witticisms that accompany any such pairing, as well as escape attempts. Along the way they come across a Sheikh (Molina) and his bodyguard (Toussaint) who imprison them, they escape again, discover the true source of the conspiracy (Kingsley wants the magical dagger the Princess guarded), they escape again, team up with the Sheikh, try to find a way to stop the conspiracy, escape again, confront the presumptive king with the truth, are foiled, then fight the big fight against the end boss to save the world.
Sounds like a videogame, doesn't it?
Effects: There is some excellent stuntwork in the movie: the parkour sequences (there are at least five if not more - I stopped counting) are excellent and thrilling to watch. While the snake-fighting scenes are obviously CGI (who's willing to fight horned pit vipers for real?) they're quick, understandable and reasonably painless to watch. But the wonky CGI definitely pulls the viewer out of the film. Rubber faces, non-practical effects and the over-the-top battle scene near the end seem to be pulled straight out of a Sommers film. There are also a couple of bad edits - not the "which flap of the collar of the coat is on top?" version but the "hey, she was on his left a second ago" kind. Not a killer, but distracting.
(I just had a notion. Jackie Chan has been doing parkour-type work for YEARS. Why does this method of stunt-traveling have a FRENCH name?)
Acting: Gyllenhaal does satisfactory work as a Persian prince (although who knew lots of people in the ostensible Middle East had blue eyes?) and seems confident enough in the role. Arterton also does well enough (channeling Rachel Weisz's performance in the Mummy movies at time, but I was wondering how British accents ended up in the Middle East during the sixth century?) Add in Molina and Toussaint as basically a twist on a pirate and his henchman (think Han Solo and Chewbacca, or at least I did) as some comedy relief / muscle and your basic foursome moves the predictable plot along. Kingsley plays Kingsley. Has he done anything else since Gandhi? The only thing positive about his acting is that he didn't eat the scenery like Jeremy Irons is wont to do when he knows the film is popcorn fluff. The rest of the crew also perform decently enough to keep the audience in the film (okay, at this point basically no one has a Persian accent. They're either American or British. Is this a sign of things to come in the nineteenth/early twentieth centuries?)
Overall: Mediocre
Other Sites:
Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Smokin Aces 2: Assassin's Ball (2010)
Premise: A prequel to Smokin' Aces; multiple groups of killers are out to collect on a contract.
Stars: Tom Berenger * Vinnie Jones * Tommy Flanagan
Story: Multiple bands of assassins, including the Tremor family, a beautiful solo assassin who poisons her victims, the master of disguise Lazlo Soot (from the previous film), and an assassin that specializes in knives known as The Surgeon all convene on a target protected by multiple FBI agents.
Review: The film is almost a direct rebuild of the first film. However, where the first film had a little originality, this film has none. A couple of interesting ideas (using actual human cannonballs, for example) are simply weighed down by the stereotypical character molds inherited from the first film as well as character roles previously played. Vinnie Jones plays a sophisticated killer specializing in tools of death. Sound familiar?
Avoid. Watch the first film and pretend this one doesn't exist.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie
Stars: Tom Berenger * Vinnie Jones * Tommy Flanagan
Story: Multiple bands of assassins, including the Tremor family, a beautiful solo assassin who poisons her victims, the master of disguise Lazlo Soot (from the previous film), and an assassin that specializes in knives known as The Surgeon all convene on a target protected by multiple FBI agents.
Review: The film is almost a direct rebuild of the first film. However, where the first film had a little originality, this film has none. A couple of interesting ideas (using actual human cannonballs, for example) are simply weighed down by the stereotypical character molds inherited from the first film as well as character roles previously played. Vinnie Jones plays a sophisticated killer specializing in tools of death. Sound familiar?
Avoid. Watch the first film and pretend this one doesn't exist.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Premise: Shellhead is back.
Stars: Robert Downey Jr * Don Cheadle * Mickey Rourke * Gwyneth Paltrow * Scarlett Johansson * Sam Rockwell
Story: Tony Stark has announced he's Iron Man. The son of his father's Russian rival (Mickey Rourke), embittered at Stark's success, makes an attempt on Tony's life. Failing, he teams up with Stark's business rival (Sam Rockwell) to go after him again. Don Cheadle makes an appearance as Stark's best friend and Gwyneth Paltrow reprises her role as Stark's potential love interest/business partner/secretary. Scarlet Johannson and Samuel L Jackson appear as the Black Widow and Nick Fury, both working for SHIELD.
Review: Honestly, on first viewing I really liked the film. It's hard not to love Robert Downey, Jr. and his performance of Tony Stark. The action pieces were timed well and the eye candy - Johansson, the suits, the cars, Paltrow, occasional violence - was liberally sprinkled throughout. Rockwell, another immensely likable character actor, nearly steals the show from RDJ when they're together, and easily plays off the patient menace of Mickey Rourke. And Samuel L Jackson doesn't chew the scenery as normal, so the more cerebral approach keeps him from playing his normally hammy self.
The only performance that I felt was weak was Don Cheadle's as Lt. Col (simply Colonel early in the film) James "Rhodey" Rhodes. Cheadle's a great actor (Hotel Rwanda, for example), but he brings a stiffness to Rhodey in the film, one that wasn't there in the first film. Granted, there is a new tension between the two due to the machinations of the government to acquire the technology, so maybe this can explain the stiffness.
So the performances are pretty spot-on. The special effects crew also do a great job.
The problem this time, tho, is the writing. There are elements of the plot that make little sense. The "buddy fight" between Stark and Rhodey is completely not believable. The exposition in the film implies that Stark somehow knew Rhodey would go get the armor and attempt to "knock some sense" into him. The "accidental" blast where the two suits' repulsor beams hit each other, creating a shockwave of course is used later.
How did Vanko know that Stark would just walk out onto the race track and take his driver's spot? Vanko appeared in pit crew gear at the same time while Stark is getting in the car - yet doesn't appear hurried or scrambling to get into the clothes to infiltrate what was an unexpected set of events.
Vanko builds another set of constrictor whips on a suit of armor. If Vanko knew the suit specifications and language of the War Machine armor to lock it up, why not create a backdoor in case his original plan is hacked? To say, lock up the suit when he personally gets involved? Or turn it into a time bomb to explode? Any number of possible plot points arise from the notion that Vanko could at any time deal with Cheadle's suit. Or, for that matter, given that the suits worked the same, why not retro-engineer a code to take over Stark's suit?
When Vanko removes his helmet during the fight with Iron Man and War Machine, why didn't one of them simply shoot Vanko in the head? Why bother with the repulsor shockwave?
The blood poisoning. So it starts slowly and then takes a big giant leap when Stark does nothing noteworthy or any strenuous activity. It took a larger leap in a shorter amount of time (going to Monaco) than it did during all the flying and fighting of the previous movie put together. Shouldn't that be reversed?
The blueprints for a new element. Seriously? A map of an EPCOT Center ripoff (the Stark Expo) is somehow a new element design that just happens to resolve the blood poisoning? Howard Stark is supposedly dead a decade or so, the film is from the seventies (given Stark's age and the film technology) and somehow Stark Sr. foresaw the need for a new element that would save Tony's life? If it's just a new element that can't be synthesized yet, why not leave some notes in a safe for Tony? It's just a little far-fetched.
I liked it. It's fun, it's not very complicated and it doesn't really engage the brain beyond a few questions here and there. I call it an empty calorie movie, or a run of the mill popcorn flick. But it's not the equal of its predecessor.
Overall: Mediocre
Other Sites: Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Stars: Robert Downey Jr * Don Cheadle * Mickey Rourke * Gwyneth Paltrow * Scarlett Johansson * Sam Rockwell
Story: Tony Stark has announced he's Iron Man. The son of his father's Russian rival (Mickey Rourke), embittered at Stark's success, makes an attempt on Tony's life. Failing, he teams up with Stark's business rival (Sam Rockwell) to go after him again. Don Cheadle makes an appearance as Stark's best friend and Gwyneth Paltrow reprises her role as Stark's potential love interest/business partner/secretary. Scarlet Johannson and Samuel L Jackson appear as the Black Widow and Nick Fury, both working for SHIELD.
Review: Honestly, on first viewing I really liked the film. It's hard not to love Robert Downey, Jr. and his performance of Tony Stark. The action pieces were timed well and the eye candy - Johansson, the suits, the cars, Paltrow, occasional violence - was liberally sprinkled throughout. Rockwell, another immensely likable character actor, nearly steals the show from RDJ when they're together, and easily plays off the patient menace of Mickey Rourke. And Samuel L Jackson doesn't chew the scenery as normal, so the more cerebral approach keeps him from playing his normally hammy self.
The only performance that I felt was weak was Don Cheadle's as Lt. Col (simply Colonel early in the film) James "Rhodey" Rhodes. Cheadle's a great actor (Hotel Rwanda, for example), but he brings a stiffness to Rhodey in the film, one that wasn't there in the first film. Granted, there is a new tension between the two due to the machinations of the government to acquire the technology, so maybe this can explain the stiffness.
So the performances are pretty spot-on. The special effects crew also do a great job.
The problem this time, tho, is the writing. There are elements of the plot that make little sense. The "buddy fight" between Stark and Rhodey is completely not believable. The exposition in the film implies that Stark somehow knew Rhodey would go get the armor and attempt to "knock some sense" into him. The "accidental" blast where the two suits' repulsor beams hit each other, creating a shockwave of course is used later.
How did Vanko know that Stark would just walk out onto the race track and take his driver's spot? Vanko appeared in pit crew gear at the same time while Stark is getting in the car - yet doesn't appear hurried or scrambling to get into the clothes to infiltrate what was an unexpected set of events.
Vanko builds another set of constrictor whips on a suit of armor. If Vanko knew the suit specifications and language of the War Machine armor to lock it up, why not create a backdoor in case his original plan is hacked? To say, lock up the suit when he personally gets involved? Or turn it into a time bomb to explode? Any number of possible plot points arise from the notion that Vanko could at any time deal with Cheadle's suit. Or, for that matter, given that the suits worked the same, why not retro-engineer a code to take over Stark's suit?
When Vanko removes his helmet during the fight with Iron Man and War Machine, why didn't one of them simply shoot Vanko in the head? Why bother with the repulsor shockwave?
The blood poisoning. So it starts slowly and then takes a big giant leap when Stark does nothing noteworthy or any strenuous activity. It took a larger leap in a shorter amount of time (going to Monaco) than it did during all the flying and fighting of the previous movie put together. Shouldn't that be reversed?
The blueprints for a new element. Seriously? A map of an EPCOT Center ripoff (the Stark Expo) is somehow a new element design that just happens to resolve the blood poisoning? Howard Stark is supposedly dead a decade or so, the film is from the seventies (given Stark's age and the film technology) and somehow Stark Sr. foresaw the need for a new element that would save Tony's life? If it's just a new element that can't be synthesized yet, why not leave some notes in a safe for Tony? It's just a little far-fetched.
I liked it. It's fun, it's not very complicated and it doesn't really engage the brain beyond a few questions here and there. I call it an empty calorie movie, or a run of the mill popcorn flick. But it's not the equal of its predecessor.
Overall: Mediocre
Other Sites: Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Premise: Autobots vs Decepticons again, with Sam Witwicky along for the ride.
Stars: Shia LeBouef * Megan Fox * Josh Duhamel * Tyrese Gibson
Story: A couple of years after the first movie, the Autobots and a multi-national team of soldiers have been hunting down Decepticon cells across Earth. Sam Witwicky has gone through school and is about to go to college. Unfortunately, a sliver of the AllSpark remained in Sam's jacket and imprints its language on Sam's mind. The Decepticons resurrect Megatron, contact their progenitor - the Fallen - and set out to recover that knowledge from Sam. Along the way, the Autobots have a falling out with a bureaucrat over apparent suspicions of loyalty once fighting breaks out.
Review: Honestly, this movie will keep your seat vibrating with noise, explosions, small thrills, and some gratuitous skin. But it will simultaneously kill brain cells. There should be a Surgeon General's warning on this film for anyone watching this film sober.
There are enough plot holes to drive a planet through. There are enough offensive stereotypes to generously offend every member of the audience - all ages and all races. This film is a literal 'screw you' to every fan of the original series, even while it throws in everything under the sun.
For a start:
There's the Decepticon Pretender which is a Species ripoff. There are giant steel testes. I say again, giant steel testes. Decepticons which previously were impervious to all but sabot rounds are now killed by random small arms fire. Autobot commandos - including Optimus 'the idealist' - hunt down Decepticons who have not harmed anyone - when it is later shown that Decepticons can choose to be Autobots if allowed to. A small Decepticon acts like a hormonal pooch. Two Autobots talk in hip-hop slang and have gold teeth. Transformer 'heaven' acts as a deux ex machina to save the day. A transformer with a beard and cane. A transformer that has been around for 10,000 years and is a SR-71 blackbird. Sam & Co. walk through the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC and ending up in an airplane graveyard - all of which are in the American Southwest. A key Decepticon from the first movie is brought in momentarily, only to be immediately be killed. Time is literally wasted on stoner humor of the wrong variety - did we need to see Mrs. Witwicky get high?
And lastly, a very unnecessary thong which illustrated Mr. Bay showing his ass to the audience.
I don't think everything is wrong with this film and I can point out a few good things. Robots fight. There are attractive people in the film. The lighting is masterful as always in a Bay film. Robots fight.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Stars: Shia LeBouef * Megan Fox * Josh Duhamel * Tyrese Gibson
Story: A couple of years after the first movie, the Autobots and a multi-national team of soldiers have been hunting down Decepticon cells across Earth. Sam Witwicky has gone through school and is about to go to college. Unfortunately, a sliver of the AllSpark remained in Sam's jacket and imprints its language on Sam's mind. The Decepticons resurrect Megatron, contact their progenitor - the Fallen - and set out to recover that knowledge from Sam. Along the way, the Autobots have a falling out with a bureaucrat over apparent suspicions of loyalty once fighting breaks out.
Review: Honestly, this movie will keep your seat vibrating with noise, explosions, small thrills, and some gratuitous skin. But it will simultaneously kill brain cells. There should be a Surgeon General's warning on this film for anyone watching this film sober.
There are enough plot holes to drive a planet through. There are enough offensive stereotypes to generously offend every member of the audience - all ages and all races. This film is a literal 'screw you' to every fan of the original series, even while it throws in everything under the sun.
For a start:
There's the Decepticon Pretender which is a Species ripoff. There are giant steel testes. I say again, giant steel testes. Decepticons which previously were impervious to all but sabot rounds are now killed by random small arms fire. Autobot commandos - including Optimus 'the idealist' - hunt down Decepticons who have not harmed anyone - when it is later shown that Decepticons can choose to be Autobots if allowed to. A small Decepticon acts like a hormonal pooch. Two Autobots talk in hip-hop slang and have gold teeth. Transformer 'heaven' acts as a deux ex machina to save the day. A transformer with a beard and cane. A transformer that has been around for 10,000 years and is a SR-71 blackbird. Sam & Co. walk through the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC and ending up in an airplane graveyard - all of which are in the American Southwest. A key Decepticon from the first movie is brought in momentarily, only to be immediately be killed. Time is literally wasted on stoner humor of the wrong variety - did we need to see Mrs. Witwicky get high?
And lastly, a very unnecessary thong which illustrated Mr. Bay showing his ass to the audience.
I don't think everything is wrong with this film and I can point out a few good things. Robots fight. There are attractive people in the film. The lighting is masterful as always in a Bay film. Robots fight.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Premise: After Judgment Day, John Connor leads the human resistance fights Skynet and its army of terminators.
Stars: Christian Bale * Sam Worthington * Moon Bloodgod * Anton Yelchin
Story: After Judgment Day, John Connor (Bale) leads an army of human resistance fighters against the machines of Skynet. On one of his raids on a Skynet base, the human fighters discover experiments being done upon humans in order to create better infiltration units (the terminators of the previous movies). After Connor escapes, a lone survivor from the site stumbles out into the world.
Marcus (Worthington), the survivor, wanders until he ends up in devastated Los Angeles, where he is nearly attacked by a terminator. Saved from certain death by young Kyle Reese (Yelchin) and his companion, Marcus ends up traveling with the duo in an attempt to reach other survivors.
Meanwhile, Connor faces opposition to his plan to save humans being experimented on by Skynet from the leaders of the resistance, and works on rigging a signal designed to stop the terminators so that his team can stage a rescue.
Marcus and Connor cross paths after Reese is captured by the terminators and taken to the Skynet base. The stage is set for a showdown as it is revealed that Marcus is one of the prototypes for the cyborg terminators. However, the two reluctantly team up to save young Reese and to find out who made Marcus into a cyborg.
Review: Christian Bale has not expanded his repertoire. Capable of gritty and serious (Reign of Fire, Batman Begins) and borderline psycho (The Machinist, American Psycho) it appears that acting human has escaped Bale - although the writing doesn't leave much for him to expand in this direction. Bale's Connor is a grizzled, borderline psychotic action hero but has none of the humanizing qualities one looks for in a story such as this.
Instead, Marcus (Worthington) fulfills the role of the wandering mysterious hero - both human and different. He recalls Jean Claude Van Damme in the Cyborg movie - and bears more than a passing resemblance to the old action star. The bonding with both Kyle Reese and Blair Williams (Bloodgod) make the cyborg seem much more human than even Connor.
This dueling characterization - the machine as the hero, the hero as the machine - may seem to reflect an aim of the writers to make the movie more of a debate about the nature of heroism, but it fails. There is no bonding to the character of John Connor by the audience, and the forced ending kills much enthusiasm for the scant storytelling.
With the lack of solid characterization on the part of the humans, the storytelling heavily relies upon the effects departments - sound and CGI. The world looks more like the setting of a video game - one can honestly pick out what levels the adventure takes place on - and the sound and violence is loud and explosive. Of course the audience is really looking for the terminators, the endoskeletons, what Skynet looks like, etc. And for the most part, the terminators are men in suits - clearly visible in a few scenes - or model robots - motorcycles, planes, and even snakes.
There are obvious shots that are throwbacks to the three earlier movies - the diesel tow truck here, the motorcycle there, even Guns & Roses 'You Could Be Mine' is heard, along with a surprise appearance near the end. It's like the writers had a checklist and went down the line, marking off the requisite effect.
Instead of this, it would have been more appealing to make a movie where the John Connor storyline is in the background, and focus on Marcus Wright. He's really the only character you begin to care about in this movie, and a well-written story centered on him would've easily been a more welcome entry in this franchise. As it stands, there is very little humanizing about the movie, and the obviously forced ending removes any appreciation for characterization. Including departures from the established Terminator storyline, the film feels like a further notch on the downward spiral since Terminator 2, the obvious high mark in this effects-driven franchise.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Stars: Christian Bale * Sam Worthington * Moon Bloodgod * Anton Yelchin
Story: After Judgment Day, John Connor (Bale) leads an army of human resistance fighters against the machines of Skynet. On one of his raids on a Skynet base, the human fighters discover experiments being done upon humans in order to create better infiltration units (the terminators of the previous movies). After Connor escapes, a lone survivor from the site stumbles out into the world.
Marcus (Worthington), the survivor, wanders until he ends up in devastated Los Angeles, where he is nearly attacked by a terminator. Saved from certain death by young Kyle Reese (Yelchin) and his companion, Marcus ends up traveling with the duo in an attempt to reach other survivors.
Meanwhile, Connor faces opposition to his plan to save humans being experimented on by Skynet from the leaders of the resistance, and works on rigging a signal designed to stop the terminators so that his team can stage a rescue.
Marcus and Connor cross paths after Reese is captured by the terminators and taken to the Skynet base. The stage is set for a showdown as it is revealed that Marcus is one of the prototypes for the cyborg terminators. However, the two reluctantly team up to save young Reese and to find out who made Marcus into a cyborg.
Review: Christian Bale has not expanded his repertoire. Capable of gritty and serious (Reign of Fire, Batman Begins) and borderline psycho (The Machinist, American Psycho) it appears that acting human has escaped Bale - although the writing doesn't leave much for him to expand in this direction. Bale's Connor is a grizzled, borderline psychotic action hero but has none of the humanizing qualities one looks for in a story such as this.
Instead, Marcus (Worthington) fulfills the role of the wandering mysterious hero - both human and different. He recalls Jean Claude Van Damme in the Cyborg movie - and bears more than a passing resemblance to the old action star. The bonding with both Kyle Reese and Blair Williams (Bloodgod) make the cyborg seem much more human than even Connor.
This dueling characterization - the machine as the hero, the hero as the machine - may seem to reflect an aim of the writers to make the movie more of a debate about the nature of heroism, but it fails. There is no bonding to the character of John Connor by the audience, and the forced ending kills much enthusiasm for the scant storytelling.
With the lack of solid characterization on the part of the humans, the storytelling heavily relies upon the effects departments - sound and CGI. The world looks more like the setting of a video game - one can honestly pick out what levels the adventure takes place on - and the sound and violence is loud and explosive. Of course the audience is really looking for the terminators, the endoskeletons, what Skynet looks like, etc. And for the most part, the terminators are men in suits - clearly visible in a few scenes - or model robots - motorcycles, planes, and even snakes.
There are obvious shots that are throwbacks to the three earlier movies - the diesel tow truck here, the motorcycle there, even Guns & Roses 'You Could Be Mine' is heard, along with a surprise appearance near the end. It's like the writers had a checklist and went down the line, marking off the requisite effect.
Instead of this, it would have been more appealing to make a movie where the John Connor storyline is in the background, and focus on Marcus Wright. He's really the only character you begin to care about in this movie, and a well-written story centered on him would've easily been a more welcome entry in this franchise. As it stands, there is very little humanizing about the movie, and the obviously forced ending removes any appreciation for characterization. Including departures from the established Terminator storyline, the film feels like a further notch on the downward spiral since Terminator 2, the obvious high mark in this effects-driven franchise.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Friday, May 29, 2009
Star Trek (2009)
Premise: Return to where it all began. Kirk. Spock. McCoy. Sulu. Uhura. Chekov.
Stars: Chris Pine * Zachary Quinto * Eric Bana * Karl Urban * Leonard Nimoy * Zoe Saldana * Bruce Greenwood * Simon Pegg
Story: A young boy grows up without his father, a captain who died when he was born. Another young boy grows up as a child of two worlds, one alien, one human. Their futures entwine when they both go to Starfleet, one as an instructor, the other as a cadet. Their paths cross, the stage is set as they both end up on the Enterprise, the new flagship of a spaceborne United Nations. Unfortunately, a villain from the future has entered the current reality hellbent on revenge, including destroying the homeworlds of both Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto).
Review: The acting is pretty much spot-on for all actors involved. Pine is arrogant and brash, but has that intelligence and wit to prove he's capable of leadership. Quinto does a great job portraying the conflict within Spock (I've never heard a better placed 'Fuck you' as when Spock says 'Live long and prosper' in one pivotal scene.) as his emotions roil beneath a calm exterior. Urban does homage to DeForest Kelley's performance as Doctor McCoy, with mannerisms, statements, and profundities that pay tribute as well as establish his bona fides as a character actor. Pegg plays Scotty, in a role that seemed destined for the star of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. The rest of the cast plays well in supporting roles, providing depth and characterization to the re-imagined Star Trek universe.
The only acting disappointment is Bana as the villainous leader Nero. Coming across as more like a spoiled child than a tortured grieving victim, it's easy to see that the writing concentrated on the main acts - the Enterprise crew - and let other pieces fall where they may.
Story-wise, the plot is simple: Bad thing happened in the future, Nero and Spock Prime (Nimoy) travel into the past via accident, Nero sets out for revenge, setting the stage for a confrontation with our heroes. Meanwhile, our heroes have to cover a little background history, set up a confrontation between the two main stars (Kirk and Spock), and let the final showdown resolve the issues in a somewhat predictable manner.
There are holes in the writing - matters of inconvenience are papered over for expediency (Kirk and Spock Prime meeting in a fortuitous ice cave, Nero somehow being able to predict within minutes where Spock Prime would appear in space, a few others), some logic was sacrificed for impressive effects (massive ships being built in farm country planet-side as opposed to in space, the future has robot/android police, why not robot/android military figures?) - and the pacing does seem uneven.
There are plenty of Easter eggs in the movie referencing the different television series as well as most if not all of the ten previous movies. It's easy to geek out over this movie, and I must admit that the first time I watched it, I clapped at the end. (A little golf clap.)
I'm not a fan of J.J. Abrams' use of the kinetic shooting method - the camera moves from eye level to close-up to farther away over the course of a few frames too often for my taste - but it is muted in many spots and doesn't distract in the way that it did in Mission Impossible III or the Abrams-produced Cloverfield.
However, the story does stay true to some aspects. Star Trek was never about space battles - at least not until the big screen and the later series. Trek was always about character first and foremost. It's about who we are, where we're going, and what one man - Gene Roddenberry - thought was the way it could be done. As one planet. As one people. Among many other peoples. Thinking before fighting, but fighting when necessary. And that's what Trek boils down to. Abrams may have created this film based on Roddenberry's vision, but it holds true. It may anger some fans, but it most certainly delighted this one.
Overall: Good
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Stars: Chris Pine * Zachary Quinto * Eric Bana * Karl Urban * Leonard Nimoy * Zoe Saldana * Bruce Greenwood * Simon Pegg
Story: A young boy grows up without his father, a captain who died when he was born. Another young boy grows up as a child of two worlds, one alien, one human. Their futures entwine when they both go to Starfleet, one as an instructor, the other as a cadet. Their paths cross, the stage is set as they both end up on the Enterprise, the new flagship of a spaceborne United Nations. Unfortunately, a villain from the future has entered the current reality hellbent on revenge, including destroying the homeworlds of both Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto).
Review: The acting is pretty much spot-on for all actors involved. Pine is arrogant and brash, but has that intelligence and wit to prove he's capable of leadership. Quinto does a great job portraying the conflict within Spock (I've never heard a better placed 'Fuck you' as when Spock says 'Live long and prosper' in one pivotal scene.) as his emotions roil beneath a calm exterior. Urban does homage to DeForest Kelley's performance as Doctor McCoy, with mannerisms, statements, and profundities that pay tribute as well as establish his bona fides as a character actor. Pegg plays Scotty, in a role that seemed destined for the star of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. The rest of the cast plays well in supporting roles, providing depth and characterization to the re-imagined Star Trek universe.
The only acting disappointment is Bana as the villainous leader Nero. Coming across as more like a spoiled child than a tortured grieving victim, it's easy to see that the writing concentrated on the main acts - the Enterprise crew - and let other pieces fall where they may.
Story-wise, the plot is simple: Bad thing happened in the future, Nero and Spock Prime (Nimoy) travel into the past via accident, Nero sets out for revenge, setting the stage for a confrontation with our heroes. Meanwhile, our heroes have to cover a little background history, set up a confrontation between the two main stars (Kirk and Spock), and let the final showdown resolve the issues in a somewhat predictable manner.
There are holes in the writing - matters of inconvenience are papered over for expediency (Kirk and Spock Prime meeting in a fortuitous ice cave, Nero somehow being able to predict within minutes where Spock Prime would appear in space, a few others), some logic was sacrificed for impressive effects (massive ships being built in farm country planet-side as opposed to in space, the future has robot/android police, why not robot/android military figures?) - and the pacing does seem uneven.
There are plenty of Easter eggs in the movie referencing the different television series as well as most if not all of the ten previous movies. It's easy to geek out over this movie, and I must admit that the first time I watched it, I clapped at the end. (A little golf clap.)
I'm not a fan of J.J. Abrams' use of the kinetic shooting method - the camera moves from eye level to close-up to farther away over the course of a few frames too often for my taste - but it is muted in many spots and doesn't distract in the way that it did in Mission Impossible III or the Abrams-produced Cloverfield.
However, the story does stay true to some aspects. Star Trek was never about space battles - at least not until the big screen and the later series. Trek was always about character first and foremost. It's about who we are, where we're going, and what one man - Gene Roddenberry - thought was the way it could be done. As one planet. As one people. Among many other peoples. Thinking before fighting, but fighting when necessary. And that's what Trek boils down to. Abrams may have created this film based on Roddenberry's vision, but it holds true. It may anger some fans, but it most certainly delighted this one.
Overall: Good
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Premise: The origin of Wolverine, one of the X-Men. A mutant is born into a world where the only person that understands him is his brother. Unfortunately his brother grows vicious over time, leading to a parting of the ways. Adding to his misery, his brother works for a covert ops unit that is operating beyond the law.
Stars: Hugh Jackman * Liev Schreiber * Danny Huston * Lynn Collins * Taylor Kitsch
Story: Most genre fans know of Wolverine (Jackman). Most non-genre fans know he's a supposed badass with a chip on his shoulder and steak knives attached to his knuckles. The movie serves as an origin (of sorts) for the eponymous mutant. We learn that he apparently sprouted bone blades before puberty and has an amazing healing factor. He also has a "brother" of sorts who serves as a protector and enabler for young Wolvie's tantrums. Due to a family tragedy, the two brothers set out, watching each other's backs for the next century, going through war after war as it seems they were made for killing.
Eventually Wolverine's conscience begins to show - of course - and his brother (Schreiber)'s does not - of course - setting the two on that age old Cain v Abel conflict wherein brother is pitted against brother via some mechanism - in this case, basic morality.
When the final split comes, the two brothers are members of a covert black ops team under the direction of Stryker (Huston), a military figure connected to the perceived mutant menace. Predictably, Stryker has an agenda surrounding mutants and their abilities, and this leads to personal tragedy for our hero who then undergoes a multi-million dollar process to have a rare metal bonded to his skeleton. During the process, Wolverine discovers the truth, goes berserk, escapes the military, and then sets out for revenge against all those who oppose him.
Review: The acting is sub-par on just about every facet, except Liev Schreiber. This one scene-chewing performance reminds me that even as a nice guy, Schreiber is one of those actors that just barely contains a sense of menace and general badass-ness. I really want to see him in Defiant to see how he plays a similar character in a reportedly well-done film. There really is no other actor fully portraying a character. Lynn Collins' Silverfox is a female cipher, Huston portrays a regular ham-fisted general straight out of the funny books and Jackman acts anguished or pissed-off the entire movie basically, no stretch for him, either. The actors were cashing in on their performances, but honestly, what can you expect?
The effects and scenes were easily stupefying. An escape scene turns from fleeing into motorcycle vs hummer to hummer vs helicopter. A hastily arranged combat scene between Gambit (Kitsch) and Wolverine is easily recognized as a set-piece, as do many others. Explosions, murders, torture, laser beams, etc. are all loud and noisy, presumably designed to distract you from the bad writing and acting. Sure it's a comic book movie, but honestly, this film is somewhere in that genre around the Incredible Hulk. It's hard to expect another The Dark Knight, and it's at least better than the deplorable Ghost Rider, but this is one of those films that seem designed for those who shut off their brains when they go to the theater.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Stars: Hugh Jackman * Liev Schreiber * Danny Huston * Lynn Collins * Taylor Kitsch
Story: Most genre fans know of Wolverine (Jackman). Most non-genre fans know he's a supposed badass with a chip on his shoulder and steak knives attached to his knuckles. The movie serves as an origin (of sorts) for the eponymous mutant. We learn that he apparently sprouted bone blades before puberty and has an amazing healing factor. He also has a "brother" of sorts who serves as a protector and enabler for young Wolvie's tantrums. Due to a family tragedy, the two brothers set out, watching each other's backs for the next century, going through war after war as it seems they were made for killing.
Eventually Wolverine's conscience begins to show - of course - and his brother (Schreiber)'s does not - of course - setting the two on that age old Cain v Abel conflict wherein brother is pitted against brother via some mechanism - in this case, basic morality.
When the final split comes, the two brothers are members of a covert black ops team under the direction of Stryker (Huston), a military figure connected to the perceived mutant menace. Predictably, Stryker has an agenda surrounding mutants and their abilities, and this leads to personal tragedy for our hero who then undergoes a multi-million dollar process to have a rare metal bonded to his skeleton. During the process, Wolverine discovers the truth, goes berserk, escapes the military, and then sets out for revenge against all those who oppose him.
Review: The acting is sub-par on just about every facet, except Liev Schreiber. This one scene-chewing performance reminds me that even as a nice guy, Schreiber is one of those actors that just barely contains a sense of menace and general badass-ness. I really want to see him in Defiant to see how he plays a similar character in a reportedly well-done film. There really is no other actor fully portraying a character. Lynn Collins' Silverfox is a female cipher, Huston portrays a regular ham-fisted general straight out of the funny books and Jackman acts anguished or pissed-off the entire movie basically, no stretch for him, either. The actors were cashing in on their performances, but honestly, what can you expect?
The effects and scenes were easily stupefying. An escape scene turns from fleeing into motorcycle vs hummer to hummer vs helicopter. A hastily arranged combat scene between Gambit (Kitsch) and Wolverine is easily recognized as a set-piece, as do many others. Explosions, murders, torture, laser beams, etc. are all loud and noisy, presumably designed to distract you from the bad writing and acting. Sure it's a comic book movie, but honestly, this film is somewhere in that genre around the Incredible Hulk. It's hard to expect another The Dark Knight, and it's at least better than the deplorable Ghost Rider, but this is one of those films that seem designed for those who shut off their brains when they go to the theater.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Hitman (2007)
Premise: An elite assassin is hired to kill the Russian President while being trailed by Interpol agents.
Stars: Timothy Olyphant * Olga Kurylenko * Dougray Scott * Ulrich Thomsen
Story: Agent 47 (Olyphant) is an elite assassin that has been operating for years. Whittier (Scott) is an Interpol agent that has been tracking him and is getting close to catching his man. 47 is hired to kill Russian President Belicoff (Thomsen) as he's making things difficult for 47's bosses. When the assassination is successful, a double of Belicoff appears, claiming the assassination a failure. Belicoff's moll, Nika (Kurylenko), is set up to help bring Agent 47 down.
47 kidnaps Nika, along the way killing men assigned to kill her and keep her quiet. The pair bond as 47 follows a trail of leads to Belicoff and the FSB agent who is working to control Russia. Whittier is on his trail all the way, repeatedly coming close to capturing 47, but events often conspire to prevent the arrest.
Review: While the light banter between Kurylenko and Olyphant is pleasing and the action is distracting eye-candy, the plot gets quickly muddled. How many doubles of Belicoff are there? Was the real Belicoff killed and the double is really the evil one? The gun battle with Belicoff's brother is distracting even as it overpowers the senses.
Parts of the film are worth seeing. The fight cinematography is eye-catching. Kurylenko never fails to sparkle. Olyphant's subdued wit is refreshing even as he reminds one of his trademark smart-aleckness (Gone in 60 Seconds, Go, Live Free or Die Hard).
But there are drawbacks. Dougray Scott. Agent 47's past - his training and enforced self-discipline - provides a conflict with Nika's flirtatiousness but provide no emotional payoff. Is he a victim of his training or is he at peace with it? The assassination attempt in the church is reminiscent of the Russian theater hostage crisis, but there is a lack of follow-through in the performance.
The film itself offers no resolution - will Whittier stay away after he's been given a plausible excuse to do so? Is 47 going to be Nika's guardian for the rest of her life? Did he turn his back on all of his support (the agency that manages him for assignments) - and if so, what is his support now? As he's killed several fellow agents, are they hunting him now?
The audience is left with a feeling similar to a few too many beers - a buzz which is enjoyable, but unfilling and fleeting.
Overall: Mediocre
Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Stars: Timothy Olyphant * Olga Kurylenko * Dougray Scott * Ulrich Thomsen
Story: Agent 47 (Olyphant) is an elite assassin that has been operating for years. Whittier (Scott) is an Interpol agent that has been tracking him and is getting close to catching his man. 47 is hired to kill Russian President Belicoff (Thomsen) as he's making things difficult for 47's bosses. When the assassination is successful, a double of Belicoff appears, claiming the assassination a failure. Belicoff's moll, Nika (Kurylenko), is set up to help bring Agent 47 down.
47 kidnaps Nika, along the way killing men assigned to kill her and keep her quiet. The pair bond as 47 follows a trail of leads to Belicoff and the FSB agent who is working to control Russia. Whittier is on his trail all the way, repeatedly coming close to capturing 47, but events often conspire to prevent the arrest.
Review: While the light banter between Kurylenko and Olyphant is pleasing and the action is distracting eye-candy, the plot gets quickly muddled. How many doubles of Belicoff are there? Was the real Belicoff killed and the double is really the evil one? The gun battle with Belicoff's brother is distracting even as it overpowers the senses.
Parts of the film are worth seeing. The fight cinematography is eye-catching. Kurylenko never fails to sparkle. Olyphant's subdued wit is refreshing even as he reminds one of his trademark smart-aleckness (Gone in 60 Seconds, Go, Live Free or Die Hard).
But there are drawbacks. Dougray Scott. Agent 47's past - his training and enforced self-discipline - provides a conflict with Nika's flirtatiousness but provide no emotional payoff. Is he a victim of his training or is he at peace with it? The assassination attempt in the church is reminiscent of the Russian theater hostage crisis, but there is a lack of follow-through in the performance.
The film itself offers no resolution - will Whittier stay away after he's been given a plausible excuse to do so? Is 47 going to be Nika's guardian for the rest of her life? Did he turn his back on all of his support (the agency that manages him for assignments) - and if so, what is his support now? As he's killed several fellow agents, are they hunting him now?
The audience is left with a feeling similar to a few too many beers - a buzz which is enjoyable, but unfilling and fleeting.
Overall: Mediocre
Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Saturday, July 5, 2008
First Blood (1982)
Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Premise: Wandering Vietnam veteran enters a small town with a hard-ass sheriff and starts having flashbacks to his experiences in the war.
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna
Review: One of the best action movies of the 80s, the film that kept Sylvester Stallone a going concern. Viet vet John Rambo suffers mistreatment from a conservative sheriff and his tough-as-nails sergeant. He then flips out and flees into the woods, accidentally causing the death of the sergeant. The sheriff proceeds to hunt Rambo, against the advice of the vet's former commander.
The survival scenes in the woods, the anguish in Rambo's revelations to Trautmann, the showdown scene in the town between Rambo and Sheriff Teasle are all top-notch. The memorable scene of Rambo handling an M-16 and destroying the town stays with you years after watching it. Simply put, it's a classic.
Overall: Good
Premise: Wandering Vietnam veteran enters a small town with a hard-ass sheriff and starts having flashbacks to his experiences in the war.
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna
Review: One of the best action movies of the 80s, the film that kept Sylvester Stallone a going concern. Viet vet John Rambo suffers mistreatment from a conservative sheriff and his tough-as-nails sergeant. He then flips out and flees into the woods, accidentally causing the death of the sergeant. The sheriff proceeds to hunt Rambo, against the advice of the vet's former commander.
The survival scenes in the woods, the anguish in Rambo's revelations to Trautmann, the showdown scene in the town between Rambo and Sheriff Teasle are all top-notch. The memorable scene of Rambo handling an M-16 and destroying the town stays with you years after watching it. Simply put, it's a classic.
Overall: Good
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie
Premise: A retiring detective is paired up with a cop-on-the-edge to take down a drug dealer with military connections.
Directed by: Richard Donner
Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Mitch Ryan
Review: The movie that re-invented the buddy-cop genre. You can probably divide the genre by this movie - before it, cops might be slightly different, but they were both basically stable by-the-number Dragnet types. After this movie, it was always a staid trooper and a psycho/loose cannon/nutjob type who either played it up for laughs or for psycho qualities.
Gibson is great as Riggs, Glover is great as Murtaugh, and the fights and subsequent scenes - between partners and between the cops and the villains - are all great. Busey in particular is a great psycho villain named Joshua who has connections to Riggs' past.
One of my favorite movies in this genre.
Overall: Good
Premise: A retiring detective is paired up with a cop-on-the-edge to take down a drug dealer with military connections.
Directed by: Richard Donner
Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Mitch Ryan
Review: The movie that re-invented the buddy-cop genre. You can probably divide the genre by this movie - before it, cops might be slightly different, but they were both basically stable by-the-number Dragnet types. After this movie, it was always a staid trooper and a psycho/loose cannon/nutjob type who either played it up for laughs or for psycho qualities.
Gibson is great as Riggs, Glover is great as Murtaugh, and the fights and subsequent scenes - between partners and between the cops and the villains - are all great. Busey in particular is a great psycho villain named Joshua who has connections to Riggs' past.
One of my favorite movies in this genre.
Overall: Good
The Punisher (2004)
Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie
Premise: A cop's family is killed by a drug kingpin out for revenge. The cop - believed dead - comes back with his own plan for revenge.
Directed by: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Will Patton
Review: I like the film. Tom Jane is a passable Frank Castle, Travolta is a decent enough villain. Small things - like the rockabilly Johnny Cash bounty hunter, the Russian, the popsicle torture scene - are done well. However, the supporting cast and the relatively stupid way that Travolta's character Howard Saint is tricked into believing his wife is cheating on him really are a let down.
If Howard Saint is supposed to be such a smart boss-type figure, how could he not figure out that his right-hand man was homosexual? Or that his wife would begin cheating on him after their son is killed? And to be such a whiny bitch when he figures out he's an idiot for falling for the ruse?
While Rebecca Romijn and the pair of guys she hangs out with are the light comic relief, as well as a support group, they detract from the rest of the film. A straight revenge flick would've been much better, given the nature of the character.
Still, it's better than the Lundgren atrocity.
Overall: Mediocre
Premise: A cop's family is killed by a drug kingpin out for revenge. The cop - believed dead - comes back with his own plan for revenge.
Directed by: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Will Patton
Review: I like the film. Tom Jane is a passable Frank Castle, Travolta is a decent enough villain. Small things - like the rockabilly Johnny Cash bounty hunter, the Russian, the popsicle torture scene - are done well. However, the supporting cast and the relatively stupid way that Travolta's character Howard Saint is tricked into believing his wife is cheating on him really are a let down.
If Howard Saint is supposed to be such a smart boss-type figure, how could he not figure out that his right-hand man was homosexual? Or that his wife would begin cheating on him after their son is killed? And to be such a whiny bitch when he figures out he's an idiot for falling for the ruse?
While Rebecca Romijn and the pair of guys she hangs out with are the light comic relief, as well as a support group, they detract from the rest of the film. A straight revenge flick would've been much better, given the nature of the character.
Still, it's better than the Lundgren atrocity.
Overall: Mediocre
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wanted
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Young nobody discovers he has the superpowers and wherewithal to be a super-spy but must discover the truth about his origins and those who train him.
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Stars: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp
Review: A hyper-kinetic action movie, by the director of the Russian action films Day Watch and Night Watch. The film starts out with a bang, as one super assassin takes on another, then moves into the focus of the film wherein mild-mannered accountant Wesley is drawn into the same world where these killers dwell. The film establishes a mythos about a secret society of assassins that is millenia-old, draws in the young protagonist (McAvoy) in a Fight Club-style destruction of the humdrum everyday existence he previously had, and throws typical plot twists seen in other adventure movies.
The action is beyond believable - with bullets that curve in arcs, flying teeth, heavy "bullet time" usage and slow motion camera work - but definitely draws you in. It's pure escapism, with the fantasies of many young men driving it. Bekmambetov likes to use rats and sets that give his films a sense of grounded reality, and the film is heavy with scenes of both hyper- and gritty reality. Rare moments cause you to cheer with Wesley as he learns to step up and "be a man", with displays of martial skills that grab your attention and don't let go. (Especially one scene at the end that plays similar to Crank and Shoot 'Em Up where our hero uses gun after gun and gets them in the most inventive ways - all on the run.)
Overall: Good
Premise: Young nobody discovers he has the superpowers and wherewithal to be a super-spy but must discover the truth about his origins and those who train him.
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Stars: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp
Review: A hyper-kinetic action movie, by the director of the Russian action films Day Watch and Night Watch. The film starts out with a bang, as one super assassin takes on another, then moves into the focus of the film wherein mild-mannered accountant Wesley is drawn into the same world where these killers dwell. The film establishes a mythos about a secret society of assassins that is millenia-old, draws in the young protagonist (McAvoy) in a Fight Club-style destruction of the humdrum everyday existence he previously had, and throws typical plot twists seen in other adventure movies.
The action is beyond believable - with bullets that curve in arcs, flying teeth, heavy "bullet time" usage and slow motion camera work - but definitely draws you in. It's pure escapism, with the fantasies of many young men driving it. Bekmambetov likes to use rats and sets that give his films a sense of grounded reality, and the film is heavy with scenes of both hyper- and gritty reality. Rare moments cause you to cheer with Wesley as he learns to step up and "be a man", with displays of martial skills that grab your attention and don't let go. (Especially one scene at the end that plays similar to Crank and Shoot 'Em Up where our hero uses gun after gun and gets them in the most inventive ways - all on the run.)
Overall: Good
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